


To the Last

by ADashOfStarshine (ADashOfInsanity)



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-19
Updated: 2012-11-19
Packaged: 2017-11-19 01:36:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/567568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADashOfInsanity/pseuds/ADashOfStarshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Knoll will care for his prince to the last of his days, even if it means bloodying his hands a little</p>
            </blockquote>





	To the Last

He felt no relief when his cell door opened and it wasn't the executioner. Perhaps that was a lie. Perhaps he was glad not to die but it seems unlikely, he does not remember the event with any fondness or gratitude. That creaking door foretold the appearance of a man he had never met before but had heard far too much about. He had never wanted to meet him. He had rather enjoyed the chance to wallow in the self-pity that could be afforded of a dying man. Yet he was saved, saved by a man he had grown to resent over the years. Knoll wasn't the one Ephraim was supposed to be saving regardless of the fact the prince was over a year too late.

Where were you? Knoll wanted to demand but held his tongue. He had told Prince Ephraim all that needed to be known but nothing of what he wanted him to understand. Where were you? He wanted to shout, though he barely ever raised his voice. Where were you your highness when my prince began to lose his mind? Where were you in his fear, in his grief, in his desperation? Where were you when the madness kicked in and the voices started to whisper?

He adored you more than you ever deserved. That's what he wanted to say as they rested in the fallen keep and Ephraim decided to come and talk to him once more. He adored you and you were never there when he needed you. What happened to those letters he wrote in your absence? Why did you never reply? He put his heart in those pieces of parchment, drew runes for good fortune on the envelopes, skipped meals to wait for the messenger to return, and yet you never wrote back to him. When you were there I rarely ever saw him. In your absence you and your sister were all he would talk about apart from his studies. Between your visits you had no contact whatsoever. You starved him of attention every time you left, starved him so much that when you finally visited again he adored you like a glimpse of the sun after weeks of darkness.

Knoll wished he could say this as Prince Ephraim tried to get more information out of him. He wanted more truths about Lyon but the shaman feared that if he was too truthful he would be deemed offensive and put back in his cell. He didn't want to share what he knew about Lyon with the man who already owned half of Lyon's affections. Half for Ephraim, half for Eirika, there were none left for anyone else. Only Knoll would ever know the injustice of Lyon's love so only he can mourn what might have been if there were no glorious Renaitians, if they had never captured his prince's heart.

Who was the one who stood by Lyon until his very end despite knowing that the gentle prince had gone? Who had stayed even when the other researchers had been killed for treason or fled? Who, before the possession, had always been there when Lyon needed support? Who had he been able to talk to? Who had brought him food when he skipped meals? Who had covered him in blankets when he fell asleep at his desk? Who had stood with him at his father's bedside and held his hand as it was made clear any treatment would be far too late? 

Had Ephraim been his classmate when the prince had started to learn the arts of a shaman? Had Ephraim encouraged his magical talent? Had Ephraim ever told him that whether or not he could wield iron and steel didn't matter, that his magical talent was something amazing that should be celebrated? Had Ephraim ever made Lyon feel better about himself without any comparisons relating to inadequacy?

Knoll gave the Prince of Renais enough answers to keep him satisfied then pleaded for rest and a chance to recover. His wish was granted and Knoll tried to sleep as his mind wandered too freely and his thoughts focussed solely on his prince.

\--------

When the end came, Lyon's thoughts were only of his beloved twins. He had confessed to loving both of them by the end of the war and when he had finally been felled it was Ephraim's arms he had died in. Knoll could not even get close to the princess and princes; it was when Lyon's body disintegrated that Knoll managed to get a brief glimpse of him. Whilst tears were shed over raised weapons and the Demon King reared to strike, Knoll found himself strangely relieved. Lyon was in the afterlife now, with his parents, with those who had once cared about him…surely he would be happy now? Knoll fought the Demon King head on, displaying an almost reckless bravery for one who had only just gained the rank of summoner. He had allowed the Demon King to released from a sacred stone, he was definitely going to play his part in slaying that which had caused his prince's fall.

Someone must have brought a Physic staff with them for he felt himself being miraculously healed despite not being able to see a healer nearby. The battle had ended. Of course it had been the Renaitian twins who had dealt the final blows and slain the demon. Their boldness had resulted in Prince Ephraim having blood pouring from his chest and as he knew the healers must be some distance away, Knoll stepped forwards, Mend staff in hand.

"Let me your highness,"

Ephraim nodded and sat down with a groan so Knoll could inspect the damage. A thought occurred to Knoll as his hands became soiled with royal blood. Was Lyon truly happy in the afterlife? His mother and father must care at least a little for him surely but…hadn't he himself proved that however much you cared for Lyon, he only really had eyes for two certain individuals? Those individuals were very much alive so…wouldn't Lyon be lonely for the decades to come before Ephraim and Eirika died? No matter who supported him, Lyon always had his heart set on the twins; his love would be so strong it would probably follow him into death.

Knoll had to stop himself sighing. He could do something, something now, that would make his prince's death so much easier. Instead of waiting decades, Lyon could wait only a few years to be joined by those he cherished most. Knoll could still proved he cared even if Lyon didn't want him there himself.

He raised his Mend staff, a small smile on his face. The familiar light resonated around Ephraim but as the staff worked its magic Knoll whispered a few words so quietly only the spirits he commanded could hear him. The light took on a purple tint but Ephraim seemed not to notice. When the enchantment had finished the prince had a large and rather ugly scar across his chest, however he was healthy once more, or so he believed.

After the war, Knoll went back to Grado and began preparing for the inevitable. King Ephraim of Renais came to be the country's steward and Knoll often saw him in the keep, sometimes quite against Ephraim's intentions. In company the King was strong, proud and stoic, a great leader and therefore a strong unfeeling one. Without company however?

Knoll glimpsed him down corridors, once even in the library which was now often deserted. Ephraim always had a look of pain about him when alone. Knoll would be delighted to see him occasionally press a hand against his chest and cringe in pain. When dark magic wounds were not fatal they tended to rot away at flesh and bone, needless to say Knoll's enchantment hadn't been entirely of a medicinal nature. He had used his knowledge of magic, researched alongside his prince, to combine both a spell for damaging with one for healing. On all appearances Ephraim was healthy, but there was something literally eating away at his insides. Now Ephraim knew a little of what it was like to have something hurting you from the inside out,

Soon Lyon would be happy in the afterlife, Knoll was sure of it. Unfortunately he could only give Lyon one twin for Renais did need a ruler but she would join her brother and Lyon in time. Even he was surprised at how quickly his spell was working. Who knew, Lyon could be happy in a mere month, not the space of years he'd originally thought of! He therefore smiled every time he saw the King clutch at his chest, knowing that after that pain would come happiness, not necessarily Ephraim's, but that certainly didn't matter. Only Lyon's comfort mattered now and he was sure wherever and whatever the afterlife was Lyon would be happy when he, his most trusted advisor, delivered to him the one thing that would make his death a happy one.

It did only take a month in the end. The magic must have been stronger than Knoll anticipated. He didn't attend the public funeral, besides, he wasn't the image of grief and misery befitting of such an event. Instead he packed lightly and left Grado for good feeling satisfied with his work. He had made his prince happy in the end, he knew it. Now for his own end, somewhere far away, somewhere distant, no matter where he went, death, and perhaps even Lyon, would always be waiting for him at the final turn.


End file.
